page_title: True Davidson
section_title: Honours and legacy
hierarchical_section_title: True Davidson / Honours and legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: True Davidson's house in East York, Ontario. Now a heritage property.
context_page_description: Jean Gertrude "True" Davidson, CM, was a Canadian politician, teacher, and writer. She was the first mayor of the Borough of East York, Ontario, and she was one of Metropolitan Toronto's most colourful politicians in a career spanning nearly 25 years. She spent 10 years on the East York school board and 11 years as alderwoman, reeve and mayor on East York Council. During her time in municipal politics she ran in 11 elections and never lost.
  She was born in Hudson, Quebec, the daughter of a Methodist minister. She was educated at the University of Toronto and then worked as a teacher. She tried her hand as a writer before gaining work editing a 12-volume compendium of Canadiana by William Perkins Bull. After her parents died, she moved to East York where she quickly became involved in local politics. She became a school trustee in 1947 and later chair of the school board. In 1958 she ran for local council and served one term before being elected as reeve in 1960. In 1966, East York merged with Leaside and Davidson emerged as the winner in a runoff election for mayor against Leaside's reeve, Beth Nealson. Davidson stayed on as mayor for six years until she retired in 1972.
context_section_description: When Davidson retired from East York politics the borough named a senior's residence after her, the True Davidson Acres. In 1971 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Victoria College as a Doctor of Sacred Letters. Davidson was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973, received the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 1977 and, just before her death in 1978, was awarded an honorary doctorate from York University, where she had recently enrolled as a doctoral student in Canadian literature. After her death, the "True Davidson Collection of Canadian Literature" was established at York University, based on a donation of her personal papers.
  In 1997, just before amalgamation, one of the last acts of the East York Council was to rename the meeting place as the True Davidson Council Chamber. In the late 1990s, a new residential development was built on the same lands as the Bayview Ghost. In 1999 the East York Community Council named one of the new streets of the development "True Davidson Drive" in honour of her impact on the area. In 2001, the city designated her former residence at 203 Woodmount Avenue as "True Davidson House". Her first house in East York was on Linnsmore Crescent but she had moved to Woodmount Avenue and spent the majority of her time here. The local Meals on Wheels agency is named for her, as is a park near Coxwell Avenue and Cosburn Avenue.
caption: True Davidson House in East York.
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